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6.
CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Recycling of Plastics
• Recycling of plastics that used to end up only at
city landfills or incinerators is increasing around the world.
• As with any technological trend, the engineering profession plays
an important role.
• Discarded plastic products and packaging make up a growing
portion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that by the
year 2000, the amount of plastics throw away was 50 percent
greater than at the beginning of the 1990s.
• EPA also says that plastic waste accounts for about one-fifth of all
waste in the waste stream.
• Over the past two decades, recycling of plastics has dramatically
increased. After years of predictions that plastics recycling would
never be widespread because processes were inefficient, too
expensive or not practical, the tide of waste headed to the landfill
is slowly being turned.

13.
CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Challanges
• Compared with other materials, such as glass and metal, plastic
polymers require greater processing like heat treating,
thermal depolymerization and monomer recycling to
recycle. Due to the high molecular weight of their large
polymer chains, plastics have a low entropy of mixing. A macro
molecule interacts with its environment along its entire length,
so total energy involved in mixing it is largely due to the
product side stoichiometry. Heating alone is not enough to
dissolve such a large molecule, so plastics must often be of
nearly identical composition to mix efficiently.
• When different types of plastics are melted together, they tend
to phase-separate, like oil and water, and set in these layers.
The phase boundaries cause structural weakness in the
resulting material, meaning that polymer blends are useful in
only limited applications.

14.
CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
• Another barrier to recycling is the widespread use of dyes,
fillers, and other additives in plastics. The polymer is generally
too viscous to economically remove fillers, and would be
damaged by many of the processes that could cheaply remove
the added dyes. Additives are less widely used in beverage
containers and plastic bags, allowing them to be recycled
more often.
• Yet another barrier to removing large quantities of plastic
from the waste stream and landfills is the fact that many
common but small plastic items lack the universal triangle
recycling symbol and accompanying number. An example is
the billions of plastic utensils commonly distributed at fast
food restaurants or sold for use at picnics.
• The use of biodegradable plastics is increasing.

15.
CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Processes
• Before recycling, most plastics are sorted according to their
resin type. In the past, plastic reclaimers used the resin
identification code (RIC), a method of categorization of
polymer types, which was developed by the Society of the
Plastics Industry in 1988. Polyethylene terephthalate,
commonly referred to as PET, for instance, has a resin code
of 1. Most plastic reclaimers do not rely on the RIC now;
they use automatic sort systems to identify the resin, such as
near infrared (NIR) technology. Some plastic products are
also separated by color before they are recycled. The plastic
recyclables are then shredded. These shredded fragments
then undergo processes to eliminate impurities like paper
labels. This material is melted and often extrudedinto the
form of pellets which are then used to manufacture other
products.

16.
CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Thermal depolymerization
• Another process involves the conversion of assorted
polymers into petroleum by a much less precise thermal
depolymerization process.
• Such a process would be able to accept almost any
polymer or mix of polymers, including thermoset
materials such as vulcanized rubber [[tire] superation of
waste]s and the biopolymers in feathers and other
agricultural waste.
• Like natural petroleum, the chemicals produced can be
made into fuels as well as polymers. A pilot plant of this
type exists in carthage, Missouri, United States, using
turkey waste as input material. Gasification is a similar
process, but is not technically recycling, since polymers
are not likely to become the result.

18.
CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
10 simple things we can do to help reduce the
amount of plastic we use every year
• Stop using bottled water – In most cases it is no safer
than tap water and costs 3 times as much gasoline and
1,ooo times as much as tap water
• Bring your own reusable grocery bags with you when you
go to the store
• Use a refillable dispenser for your hand soap and dish
washing liquid, one large bottle is better than using a
bunch of small ones
• Use a reusable container instead of sandwich bags
• Bring your own to-go mug with you to the coffee shop
• Say no to single serving packaging, buy in bulk and share
with friends instead